Beet digging and topping machine



Sept. 21 1926.-

A. T. WOODS BEET DIGGING AND TOPPING MACHINE Filed Dec. 14 1925 2 Shee'ts-Sheet '1 W 3 l a y w W O.

Sept. 21,1926. 1,600,264

A. T. WOODS BEET DIGGING AND TOPPING MACHINE Filed Dec. 14, 1925 2 Sheets-Shut 2 7,, M "Ma;

IN V ENTOR.

' ATTORNEY.

device of'this ch Patented Sept. 21, 1926.

ALBERT "r. WOOD S, or PLACERVILLE, ootonnno.

P'ATENro F 'BEETVDIGGINVYG Ann 'rorrme MACHINE. 1

Application filed December 14 1925.

This invention relates digging sugar beets and the like and cutting the tops from the same,

to a machine for and has for its principal object the provision of an efficient may be acc urately are dug, with a minimum Another object is to provide means which an operator may aracter with which the tops cut from the beets as they of manual labor.

asslst the machine when necessary and control the cutting knife so as to out the top proper depth.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of constructi reference is from the ing which forms a erals refer to like parts 1n all beet at the on of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efliciency. parent from the following In the following detailed the invention, panying draw Like num These will become more apdescription.

description of 'had to the accompart hereviews of the drawing and throughout the description. r r

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is beet I Fig. 2 is Fig: 3 is a side elevatio digging and" topping the near sidewheels cut nof my improved machine, iwith away.

a plan viewof the complete digan enlarged, p

e 3-3, Fig

through. the lower elevato Fig. 5 is Broadly will sever liver them ceptacle. I

The above is accomplished supporting fra tremity' upon a rear wheels a front ax upon wheels 14.

frame 10, u on a 15' is pivoted",-"by

a crosssectional vlew alternate form of the lower speaking, the

field, which beets, top firs the tops from to any desired rear axle '12, and at cross b 1 means chine is drawn I through cketsagainst a der a "rotating artial cross section r roller. a

' through an elevator roller.

device is a ma-. d to be driven along the row will digthe beets; t, onto a laterally having a series of pockets for draw the guide; ,and knife which the beets and demechanism or re by means of a me 10, supported atone ex- 11, terminating in, the other extremity le 13 terminating in guide the forward extremity of the ar :18, a draft bar of which the mathe medium of a nected to steering spindles 16,

extending portions 19 of vator is "controlled Serial No. 75,272.

The draft bar is con carried upon the guide wheel axles, by means of'con'necting bars 17. By this construction, ing movement of the draft bar is communicated to the guide wheels 14, thus allowing tractor or horses.

any turn- I the machine. to be turned within a very small radius. The axles 13 extend sufficient ly beyond the frame 10 so that the guide wheels may be turned substantially parallel therewith, thus allowing the machine to rotate about the rear axle 11 as a pivot.

The front axle entering the frame'10, as indicated at 19, Fig. 1, forming an inverted U. Slidably mounted as shown at 20, upon the axle 13,, is a plow frame 21, also in the shape of an inverted U, and-terminating at its lower extremity in any of the usual beet digging plows 22. lowered through the medium of a plow lifting lever 23 pivoted on theaxle 13, as

The plow frame is elevated or 13 extends upward after the upward shownat 2 1, and connected by means of a I link 25 with the plow frame 21. i

The beets are received from the plow. 22

upon an elevator chain 26 carried on an elevator frame 27. The frame 27 is pivoted at its rearward extremity upon an elevator drive shaft 28 and is supportedat its for g p 7 ward extremity uponsupporting rods 29. detail longitudinal section These supporting rods 29 dependfrom bellcrankleversBO, in which they areslid-ably mounted and supported on. springs 31. This arrangement allows the supporting rods torisethrough the bell-crank-levers should the elevator strike an obstruction. The height ofthe lower extremity of the eleby-meansof an elevator lever 32,, connected to the bellcrank-lever means of a connecting rod 33. The ,ele-

vator chain 26 passes over a solid drum 31; i

at its lower limit ofltravel and over' the sprockets carried on the elevator drive shaft at its upper limit of travel.

The elevating chains 26 are connected at spaced intervals .by means ofzflig'hts 35. 'The flights 35-comprise angle bars bent so as'to form a trough which will maintain the'beets along the center line of the elevator as they forming the flights 35 is preferably notched, as illustrated in'Fig. 5, to'exert a greater tractive effort on the beets; By having the solid drum31 at the lower extremity of the ascends; The projecting leg of' the angle bars I elevator, a backing or support for the cross bars 35 is provided'at this point, which pre-. Vents them' from being bent outof shape by striking obstructions on the ground. The elevating chains 26 travel in cliannel" tracks 36 as they ascend, which maintains them in alignment.

To cause the beets to enter the elevator top first, I provide a rake chain 37 su'ppelt d a ake. f me w i h i p ted, at. t upper: x em ty upo e ke riv shaft 39;. and which is suspended at its lower tre ity UPQ ange ep nding from a. second-.- e -cr nk e e .1- T an r 40, are arranged similarly to the supporting rods 29 sothat the rake frame may be forced pward W thout a fect ng. e be l-Cr lever. 41... The bell crank lever 41; connects with. a rake. operating e e h ough. the medium. 01f. ac nn et ng r d he ak chains 3-7: are, connected by means of; spaced.

7 bars. 42. which v engage the beet tops and I the'notches 51 being "in from be the draw them i rearwardly between the rake chains andelevator chains, thus causing the tops to. enter the elevator beforethe beets do. hen the beets reach the upper extremity of. the'elevator, their tops will be blown rearwardly, by means of, a. blower 43 Which forces. airinto an air pipe 44, arranged to blow between. the flights 85. as they, pass around. the upper sprockets.

The beets. fall from. the elevator upon a stationary-reoeiVing. table 46, over which a series of partitions". 47-. travel. The partitionsx47, secured. to angle bars 52, are. carmeat lateral chains 48 and act to form. a series of'compartmen'ts which separate and contain the individual beets. The rearwardly blown tops .will be engaged byia revolving slatted drum wheel 45 which will. draw the beets rearwardly in their-"compartments. As' the beets are drawn, rearward, they will impinge upon pointed hooks 49. carried by the partitions 47 The hooks 49'serve to align and hold the beets in alignment so that, as the chains 48-travel, theywill be carried under a rotatingknife 5 0 which severs them from their tops-" p 'The knife 50- is notched. as shown at 51, v spaced so'that they will engage the angle bars 52 as they pass under the knife, thus serving to keep the knife rotating in'unison with'the chains 48. The partitions 47- 'terminate sufliciently" far knife 50 to allow a space between the partitions and'the hooks 49 in which the knife will operate. The knife 50 is sl'idably mounted. upoii its shaft and is movedtherealong by means of'an operating handle 53 st) that theamount cut from the beet canbe regulated manually.

' The operating handle 53, and the levers 23,32'a nd' '54 arearrangedwithin'reach of a machine operator Who is seated upon a align them, should the roller 45 not be sufficient to accomplish "this operation. He can also determine point at which the individual beets should be topped and by moving the operating handle 53, can top. them accurately at this point.

The, beets tlieir tops leave the. table 46- separated fall; upon the ground or. into. Sui able-containers (1.10 shown) carr ed; y the mee lle e 'ii ii v t e belt (not shown) vvillp lace them into agons b ile' dr e we; i f iii the machine. These. latter details nemenms, trated since they form no of the invention and. are in use upon other devices of, similar nature. l i l actuated from an engine which drives a countershaft 59 through the mediuni'o f a drive chain 6 0. The driye chain GO. also passes overj a sprocket upon tlie blower 4 3 and, act-uates the same. The lateral chains are driven from the conntershaft 59 tlirough the medium of bevel gears 61 and a vertical chain 62." The elevator. it driven from the countershaft 59 through the medium of spur gears 63." The roller 45 is driven from the countershaft 59 through the medium of a sprocket chain. 64 and; tl iel ra ke chains are driven from the cou tersha ;t 59, through the medium of a sprocket, chain 65. The engine 58 may be disconnected from the machine The moving parts of the machine are y means of a clutch. 66 operated M clutch lever. 67 'Within'reaeh of the operator.

The slatted'druin wheeL 45 is supported on, an a'rm'68 which arches rea rwar dly to allow room. for. the. pa sage t e tops-f T e knife 50. is carried from. a bracketfigwhich is secured to oneofthearms 68.

- To. allow the rake chain to accommodate various sizes Ofbetfs, its upper shaft 39is carried in a slotted bearing 7 0 which allows the. shaft. to be pushed-[upward an unusually large beet. carried past on the elevator. The drum wheel; 45 is also carried iiifa slotted; bearing to allow it to raise. should. a. large beet attempt to pass -under.it;

To remove. the tops. from the hooks 49 after they have been cut from the beets, I' provide an angularly placed pusher bar 72 against which thetops will bear a s'they. are swung. around the sprockets (pt-the chain 48, and which s erveftoi push them from the hooks 49. V r r In place. of. the solid: drum illustrated in Fig."5., hollow drum, illustrated inFig.

'6, may be employed, consisting'of a series pass. The bars 7 3 are rovided with teeth 7 4. The elevator flight will pass below the surface of the bars 73, allowing the latter to engage-the beets upon the ground. The strain of striking the beets will then be borne by these heavy bars allowing the flights to be made of lighter construction.

\Vhile a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it

is desired tobe understood that the same may ments for said beets, said knife arrangedto pass across said compartments over said partltions; and pro ect1ons in said compart ments to hold the beets in alignment therein, said projections comprising pointed hooks arranged to 'proj ect into said beets and maintain them in said compartments.

2. In a beet digging machine, meansfor elevating the dug beets; transversely traveling means for receiving the beets from said elevating means; a' rotating knife arranged to sever the drum arranged above said transversely travfrom said beets as they tops from said beets as they travel on said latter means; and a rotating 7 eling means and adapted to draw the beets toward the rearward side thereof.

3. In a beet digging machine, means for elevating the dug beets comprising, a traveling series of spaced bars; atable for receiving the beets from said elevating means;

and a blower arranged to blow the topsrear- Wardly over said table as they emerge from said elevating means. V

4. Means for topping beets and the like comprising a table arranged to receive said beets; said table being divided into a series of compartments by means of traveling partitions; and a rotating knife arranged above said table and adapted to out through said beets as'they' are carried thereunder by said partitions, said'knife being slidably mounted upon its shaft so that the pointat which it cuts into justed. I

5. In a beet digging machine, the combination of an inclined elevator adapted to receive the dug beets and comprising a series of traveling spaced bars; means for raking the beets into said elevator comprising a second series of traveling spaced bars; means for receiving the beets from said elevator comprising, a laterally traveling series of compartments; and means for drawing the beets into alignment in their individual compartments comprising a'slatted drum Wheel arranged to rotate above said compartments;

and means forcutting the tops fromsaid beets comprising a knife arranged to rotate above said compartments and at right angles thereto. s

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature. ALBERT T. WOODS.

the beet may be manuallyad- 

